This extra-special blog post comes to us from Vivienne Harr, age 9, a champion against child slavery who operated a lemonade stand for 365 days straight. Last weekend she celebrated her 1-year anniversary [8]and announced plans to bottle her delicious Make a Stand[9] lemonade, which is made using Fair Trade Certified ingredients. At the event, Fair Trade USA presented her with an award to acknowledge her incredible work to spread the word about Fair Trade.

Fair Trade USA is honored to partner with Vivienne to Make a Stand for ending child slavery and improving the lives of farming families around the world. Together we can make a big difference, one bottle of delicious lemon-aid at a time.

365 Days for Freedom

I did it! I made a stand and achieved my goal, and so can you! My name is Vivienne Harr and I'm excited to let you know that I’ve achieved my goals of selling from a lemonade stand for 365 days straight, raising $150,000, and a lot of child slaves. What's next? We'll, I’m trading in my lemonade stand for a lemonade company, so I can sell more lemonade, and free more slaves using Fair Trade Certified Ingredients.

Last year I learned about slavery for the first time. I saw a photo of two boys from Nepal my own age carrying granite slabs strapped to their heads and backs, holding hands to comfort each other. I decided to free those boys and end child slavery by raising donations through a lemonade stand. By asking customers to “pay what’s in their heart” and by staying open every day, rain or shine, and with a little help from my Mom, brother and Dad who works in social media, within 6 months I raised enough to donate $101,320 to anti-slavery group Not For Sale.

But I didn’t stop there. When I passed my fundraising goal of $150,000 in 2012, my Mom and Dad said: “Honey, you reached your goal. You’re done,” but I asked: “Is child slavery done? Then, I’m not done.” At that point, I set a new goal, to continue my lemonade stand for a year, and use the rest of the money to start a lemonade company. My parents say that Make A Stand, Inc. SPC is a social purpose company, where a large part of the profits go to social causes. But rather than calling it a business, I like to call Make A Stand a “giveness,” because each bottle is more than just a bottle of tasty lemonade, it's a promise to free slaves. Nothing does this more than using ingredients that are Fair Trade Certified[10].

We're ending child slavery here! We can't very well use ingredients that aren't Fair Trade. Fair Trade means treating the people who get our ingredients fairly. That seems fair to me. And that's the golden rule, you know? Treat others the way you want to be treated! Fairly!

For every pound of sugar that Make a Stand purchases, farmers earn a fair price that allows them to send their kids to school, build more hospitals and build wells to bring clean drinking water to their communities. Certified farms have to meet tough standards, but in return farmers can make enough money to feed their families, educate their kids and improve their communities.

You see, you don't have to be big and powerful to change the world; you can be...well...just like me!

Thank you for making a stand with me!

-Vivienne Harr

Fair Trade Certified Lemonade from Make A Stand

Make A Stand is taking pre-orders on its lemonade, targeted for supermarkets and premium grocers across the West Coast. Pre-order lemonade of your own at www.makeastand.com[11]

Enter to win a gift pack of Make A Stand Lemonade!

Enter the contest below for a chance to win a gift 6-pack of Lemonade from Make A Stand's first-ever bottle run.